


Good Things Come To Those Who Run Into Them

by phanimist



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff, M/M, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-07
Updated: 2016-09-07
Packaged: 2018-08-13 12:40:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,109
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7977076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phanimist/pseuds/phanimist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a stressed dan runs into phil one day at university. as he discovers that the future his now, his life slowly starts to unravel with phil, and others, by his side. mainly phil.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Good Things Come To Those Who Run Into Them

**Author's Note:**

> hello friends! writer's block who? i'm back w another fic :) thank you for all the love lately. this is just a cute lil thing i've had in the back of my mind for a little while.
> 
> huge thanks to my beta pauline for helping me create this :) i appreciate you, your ideas, your conversation, and everything you do.

Dan wasn’t sure he’d ever be properly happy at university. The future always scared him to an extent, his reasons haphazardly scattered around in his brain. He knew that most of these reasons were bullshit, yet there they were. Whether it was venturing down to the laundry room to wash his clothes, or heading to the library to borrow a book that might not even be there, Dan was quite frequently worried, constantly terrified of messing his coursework up, forgetting to submit something, or just fucking up in any way possible. 

It’s a month into University that he caves for the first time and calls his mom. If anything to get advice and be told he was being ridiculous, which is exactly what he expected to happen when his mom picked up on the second to last ring. 

“I don’t know if I can get all of this done,” Dan groaned. “I have no time or motivation and it’s only been a month.” Dan’s mother sighed on the other end of the phone.

“You’ll be fine, Dan. All first year students struggle with settling in.” She supplied. Dan made a whining noise. 

“Everyone else seems to be doing just fine,” He mumbled, falling backwards onto his bed, facing the ceiling. 

“Everyone else wants to  _ look _ like they’re doing just fine,” Dan’s mother laughed. “Talk to your friends, and I assure you that they’re in the same boat. You’re fine.”

Dan doesn’t mention that he’s been holed up in his room trying to finish crazy amounts of work for the past month, and hasn’t made any friends. Even his moments of free time had been spent preparing for the next workload, and he was still feeling overwhelmed. 

“Yeah,” Dan sighed. He might be fine. He wasn’t all too sure. After a pause, he continued. “I’ll come visit soon. Once the initial workload dies down.”

“We love you!” His mother called, tone encouraging and bright. 

“Love you too,” Dan replied, hanging up once his mom bid him another farewell and let the line drop. He tossed his phone lightly on the bed beside him and let out a loud, drawn out sigh.

 

That night, Dan lay awake merely thinking, mulling about the concept of friendship. His handful of friends from high school were scattered about the country, and though he texted them a little, he was in no position to hang out with them. It sucked that everyone was probably already in their little friend groups, and Dan had missed that boat. 

He eventually fell into sleep that night, but not without a busy brain.

  
  


Dan’s life was uninteresting. He didn’t have all too much money, no friends he’d deem close enough to talk to before, during, or after class, and the most excitement he got was from drinking every now and then. Sometimes he did it just to get through a study session, or sometimes out of boredom. He didn’t see himself as an alcoholic, not at all, it was just becoming a rather worrisome pastime. 

Today, he was probably already going to be late for his class. Dan scuttered between buildings trying to make it to his lecture on time, having spent last night awake for far longer than he should have. He had put all of his energy, and some alcohol energy, into finishing an essay for today and as he walked he was certainly feeling the fatigue. Head in the clouds, he quickly and recklessly rounded a corner, finding that he maybe should have been paying attention. He didn’t have any time to stop, despite the fact that he saw it coming, as he walked full force into another boy headed in the opposite direction. They both dropped their things, Dan losing his balance as he fell to the ground as well. His heart felt heavy with sudden guilt about having run into the other boy, and his mind began to race with worries. 

“I’m so sorry,” Dan mumbled, averting his gaze as he moved to pick up his things, still sat on the ground. He heard a quiet laugh above him.

“I’m the one who knocked you over,” the boy chuckled lightly. Dan saw the shadow of the boy as he bent down to retrieve the two books that he’d dropped. Once he’d accomplished that, he began to help Dan retrieve his things, much to Dan’s horror.

“I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Dan muttered, “S’my fault.” The boy next to him laughed again as he gathered the last of Dan’s miscellaneous folders from the ground, hand outstretched as he offered them to the brunette. Dan looked up to accept his papers and was met with the brightest blue eyes he’d ever seen.

“I think we can both take at least some of the blame.” He smiled, moving to stand up as he extended a hand to Dan, offering to help him stand. Dan accepted the gesture, gaze still trained on the other’s eyes. When Dan noticed that the other’s eyebrows suddenly quirked, clearly noticing Dan’s stares, he quickly stuttered back, dropping their hands now that he was fully standing as he looked to backtrack. 

“Sorry, I- Your eyes are just _ really _ blue,” Dan explained, running a hand through his hair distractedly, clutching his folders to his chest with the other. The boy smiled bashfully.

“Thanks,” He replied, momentarily letting silence settle over both of them. “I’m Phil, by the way.”

“I’m Dan,” Dan replied with a smile. 

“Sorry for knocking you over,” Phil apologized, shifting his books in his arms. “I tend to power walk when I get caught up in my head. Should  _ probably _ look where I’m going.”

“No, it’s okay. Neither of us were really paying attention,” Dan replied, glancing around as he noticed the other travelling students. He then remembered why he’d been in such a rush in the first place, quickly checking his phone. He still had five minutes to make it to class. “I should go,” he frowned. Phil shrugged.

“It was a pleasure to quite literally run into you.” He laughed, beginning to take small steps in the direction he’d been previously headed. Dan shook his head, biting back a grin. “I’ll see you around.”

“For sure.” Dan replied, sharing a quick wave with Phil before he was off and back to rushing to his lecture.

Dan thankfully got to class just on time, entering the hall just in front of his professor. He exhaled quietly to himself before setting into his usual seat at the back of the class.   
  


 

It was a few more weeks before Dan and Phil crossed paths again. Both had been presumably on their way to class when they’d passed each other, sharing a smile and a quiet hello before they continued on their way. Neither Dan nor Phil thought anything of it.

The more Dan got used to the university schedule and way of things, the more he found himself relaxing. After realizing that everyone else was panicking nearly as much as he was, he found himself being able to drop most of his self conscious worries. He still didn’t have any friends from campus, but he wasn’t constantly on the verge of a stress induced breakdown, and that was enough progress for Dan.

On a particularly relaxed day, Dan found himself walking around campus for no specific reason, maybe to simply clear his head. His coursework was being managed, and he was beginning to realize the importance of taking a break. There weren’t many things he could do to take a break, mind you, as he was unfamiliar to many people after closing himself off for months. Regardless, Dan made the effort to take time off. 

He made his way to the coffee shop on campus, the one he’d always seen flyers for, and decided that the chilly fall air merited a warm drink. The bells chimed as he entered the cute little shop, Dan immediately noticing the lack of available seating. Much to his luck, the pair of bright blue eyes that fell on him as he entered were incredibly familiar. Dan caught his gaze and Phil smiled at him from his table at the window. Dan approached the table, it being on his way to the counter to order, and shot Phil a smile of greeting.

“Hi,” said Dan, waving shortly. 

“Hey,” Phil beamed. “Trying to combat the chilling breeze out there?”

“Something like that,” Dan mused. “Have to occupy my time with  _ something _ .”

“Something other than the coursework?”

“In my fleeting moments without it, a warm drink will suffice,” Dan joked, Phil nodding in understanding as he glanced around the café. 

“You’re welcome to join me once you order, if you want.” He offered, gesturing to the lack of available seating.

“I think I’ll take you up on that,” Dan smiled, setting his book bag down on the seat across from Phil. “I’ll be back.”

After ordering a hot chocolate, Dan trying to avoid dwelling on the menu and making others wait behind him in the process, he rejoined Phil at the table by the window, curling further into his sweater to combat the chilly air escaping in through the doorway. Brief small talk and greetings set them off as he quietly sipped on his hot chocolate, waiting for it to be at the right temperature to properly enjoy.

“So you’re telling me that you drink things when they’re the temperature of  _ molten lava _ ?” Dan asked, incredulous after Phil had pointed out his slow consumption of the drink. Phil laughed mirthfully.

“I like the taste of things more when they’re still hot,” Phil defended, as if it explained it all. 

“Things have no taste at all when they’re ‘still hot’. It just tastes like ‘hot’.” Dan sighed. “That’s crazy. You’re crazy.”

“Crazy enough to invite someone with you to sit with me, only to have my taste in drink consumption times antagonized,” Phil quipped jokingly. Dan rolled his eyes, but smiled. 

“So, what’s your major?” Dan asked, opting to change the topic. He liked the way conversation didn’t feel forced whatsoever with Phil. It flowed naturally.

"At this rate, it feels like it’s a degree in time management for me.” Phil grinned. “I’m working on that. I’m in video post production. That sort of thing. You?”

Dan nodded along. “Fleeting between Law and English. I don’t quite know yet,” he explained with a shrug. “My first goal was to get used to uni, my next was to pick a major, so I’m still-” With a lack of better words, Dan let his words drop, gesturing in a confusing manner with his hands. Phil sighed in understanding.

“Yeah, I get that. You do sort of strike me as an English major kind of guy,” Phil smiled, tilting his head. Dan quirked an eyebrow with a smile of his own. 

“Why do you say that?” Dan asked. Phil shrugged in turn.

“Just do.”

Dan and Phil ended up exchanging numbers after brief conversation about their own university lives. Dan had mentioned his accomplishment of settling into the lifestyle rather recently with nothing of value to fill his free time. Phil had asked if he hung out with anyone on a daily basis, and Dan had sadly explained that hibernating for the first few months of university was not the smartest thing to do. 

“You didn’t even leave your dorm room or anything open on the first day?” Phil asked, eyebrows raised. Dan furrowed his own.

“No? I thought that was something done in movies or something,” Dan laughed. “Do people actually do that?”

“Yeah, if anything all you do is exchange hello’s with people in the hallways, but it’s something.” Dan shrugged.

“I ended up running into people anyways, I suppose.” Dan replied, shooting Phil a sideways glance. He rolled his eyes. 

“Took you a few months.” Phil retorted jokingly.

“Thanks.” 

Their conversation continued lightly for what felt like a good hour before Phil checked the time, not seeming all too pleased about having to leave for class. They left with plans to meet further again in the week and were on their separate ways, Phil to a lecture, and Dan back to studying.

Phil texted him not even two hours later.

**From: Unknown**

 

_ i hate lectures _

 

Dan’s phone buzzed again seconds later.

 

_ this is phil by the way _

 

Phil texted Dan about a movie night he held around campus with his friends not even a day later, inviting the brunette. He held it with a medium sized group of friends he’d met from around campus, and the gathering, so he explained, was less about being close friends with everyone and more about interacting with a lot of people in short bursts to see who you clicked with. Phil had started it at the beginning of the year with PJ, another friend of his in video production, and had found that it was a great way to meet new people, as practically everybody was into movies. Dan liked the sounds of that.

 

When Dan showed up to Phil’s dorm room, as Phil was the one to host this particular movie night (luckily for Dan), he was buzzing with slight nervousness. He didn’t know anyone in that room except for Phil, and even then they hadn’t been friends for long. Suddenly, his phone buzzed in his hand.

**From: Phil**

 

_ you almost here??? _

 

Dan sighed.

 

**To: Phil**

 

_ outside your dorm room, actually _

 

Not even ten seconds later, the door was opening, and Phil was beaming at Dan in the door frame. Dan could hear the quiet chatter of people inside, and could see quite a few bodies littering the floor and couches and chairs. He smiled at Phil.

“Hi.”

“Hi yourself. Come on in.” Phil replied, gesturing for Dan to come in. He did, but didn’t stray far, allowing Phil to re-enter the room so that Dan could trail closely. People turned to take in his arrival. “This is Dan.” Phil announced simply. Dan awkwardly waved, and the others joined with a chorus of hellos. “We’re watching the first Harry Potter movie.” Phil explained, turning to Dan. 

“Awesome.” Dan replied with a nod. 

Conversation began to pick up again, and Phil gestured for Dan to follow him to the couch. He playfully shoved a boy with curly brown hair further down the couch in order to make room, and then sat down, patting the space next to him. Dan took the seat gratefully, noticing the lack of seating and the way Phil had made sure he had a place. “We’re just waiting for-” A boy with raven hair burst into the room, and the guests erupted into cries of greeting.  Dan noticed the cries of ‘Chris!’ and could only guess that it was the boy’s name. Chris bowed playfully before throwing himself onto the couch despite there being absolutely no room, now squishing Dan against the side of someone he didn’t know and Phil. He leaned more towards Phil uncomfortably, despite the fact that he was laughing and Phil was too. “-Chris.” He  finished with a laugh.

“Someone’s excited for Harry Potter.” Dan mused, glancing over at so called Chris. Chris overheard, and looked back at Dan with a grin. 

“The fun hasn’t come close to starting, my friend.” Chris smiled. He looked past Dan, towards Phil. “Who’s this?”

“Dan.” Phil answered, laughing. “He could have answered that for himself too, yaknow.” Dan smiled and turned back to Chris.

“Dan. Ah, he’s the one you met last week.” Phil nodded. “Then welcome aboard, Dan.” said Chris. Dan mock saluted, and both Chris and Phil laughed.

Having friends made university life eons more interesting and manageable for Dan. Dan was enjoying himself before, after, and throughout the duration of the movie, (more so when the whole room shouted the line ‘YER A WIZARD, HARRY’ and Chris had squeaked ‘Imma whut?’) and was becoming increasingly glad he’d quite literally run into Phil all those months ago.

Now, when he walked to class, sometimes he’d see a familiar face in the crowd and share a smile. Yeah, he didn’t really know their names most of the time, but it wasn’t like that mattered.    
  


 

“You two again?” PJ beamed, Dan and Phil entering the Starbucks across the street from a busy lecture hall where their friend worked. The pair had gone out after Phil’s lecture, after the raven haired boy had sent Dan a text complaining about his need to emotionally recharge. Dan had happily suggested Starbucks.

“The usual, please.” Phil answered instead, leaning against the countertop as he scanned the menu skeptically. PJ rolled his eyes, and Dan smiled. 

“Hey Peej.”

“At least Dan greets me.”

He frequently went out for coffee with Phil nowadays, despite the overwhelming school workload for both of them. On the worst of the days they at least sat together in the silence of the coffee shop as they both worked. 

“You two are attached at the hip nowadays,” PJ commented, sliding their caffeinated drinks across the counter. Phil dropped fifteen bucks on the counter before Dan could even reach for money, pouting at the other in answer. Phil ignored it. Dan rolled his eyes.

“Nonsense.” Dan retorted. “We’re just both people who appreciate caffeine.”

Dan had met tons of new people, but for some reason he always seemed to gravitate towards Phil and his personality. The two were incredibly similar, and he found that their compatibility meant that conversations weren’t draining for Dan’s introversion. Phil’s company was nice. Luckily for Dan, Phil seemed to be in the same boat. 

“Your presence isn’t half bad either,” Phil joked, elbowing Dan in the ribs. Dan squeaked as he nearly spilled his drink, and PJ laughed. 

“It’s like the two of you are married, for fuck’s sake.”

“Not quite married, I’d say. More honeymoon phase.” Phil quipped. With that statement, Dan kicked Phil lightly in the shins. “Oi!” He retorted

“You brought it upon yourself,” Dan mumbled, rolling his eyes. Phil pouted.

“I was merely trying to show affection to my-”

“Shut up.” Dan laughed, cutting him off and swatting at Phil. He chuckled, the two of them beginning to head to the cafe door. Phil turned back to PJ.

“See ya around. Movie night this weekend?”

“Hell yeah!” PJ called. “Cheers, you two.”

They exited the Starbucks side by side, one opening the door and holding it open for the other, and Phil had to laugh as they stepped onto the cool concrete. Dan turned to him quizzically.

“Honeymoon phase,” Phil chuckled at his previous joke, which made it worse, and Dan rolled his eyes.

“I’m gonna get a divorce at this rate.” He mumbled. Phil only laughed harder.

 

The more movie nights that passed, and the more times they all went out to eat or to go drink at a bar, the more their group of friends started to see Dan and Phil as a pack deal. It wasn’t even that they were dating. Their energy just bounced off of the other, and they were constantly side by side. At first, that had been due to Dan’s nerves involving anything unfamiliar, but as of late it was merely a habit. They were a duo. That was how it worked. 

“Are you and Howell a thing?” They’d get asked time and time again, Dan practically clinging to Phil’s side at a party they’d been invited to by one of Phil’s post production friends. They’d both laugh it off every time the question was asked, too.

“Depends on your definition of ‘thing’.” Phil would say casually. Dan would laugh.

“Dating?” The friend of Phil’s clarified. Dan didn’t know his name.

“Then no.” Dan smiled, lowering his voice to mumble to continue. “He’s just a pain in my ass.” Phil aimed a kick at his shins, and Dan could only laugh. He liked how easy it was with Phil. This was how it always was.

  
  


“Are you done yet?” Phil whined. He was sprawled across Dan’s dorm bed beside his friend’s cross legged position as he watched the brunette flip through the pages of the novel he’d been assigned to read. Dan had promised a bored Phil a game of Guild Wars after he’d finished the chapter, and Dan was quickly gaining a sense of Phil’s patience levels tonight. Phil had finished his work twenty minutes ago, and had now taken to harassing Dan which, he’d like to point out, was affecting his optimum novel reading speed.

“No, Phil.” Dan droned. Phil made a whining sound, and Dan couldn’t help but laugh breathily to himself. “Almost.”

“You said that five minutes ago,” Phil complained. 

“I would be reading faster if you weren’t distracting me,” Dan defended, seeing Phil roll his eyes in the corner of his gaze. Phil seemed to let it drop after that, Dan making the most of the few minutes he had to continue reading before Phil was inevitably bothering him again. 

Just as predicted, Phil shifted on the bed and let his head rest subtly on Dan’s crossed legs, peering up at him past the book. Dan could see Phil peering out at him, but refused to look.

“Dan,” Phil whispered, a smile very quickly growing on his face. Dan fought the urge to reciprocate. When Phil brought a finger to poke at Dan’s stomach in hopes of tickling him, Dan curled in on himself and couldn’t help but laugh.

“Stop that,” he warned, despite a wide smile. Phil waited a moment before poking at Dan again, who finally closed his book and hit Phil gently over the head with it. _ Fuck it, _ he thought,  _ I’ll read when Phil heads home. _ Sighing in defeat, he glared jokingly at his friend. “I hate you.”

“No you don’t,” Phil beamed.

  
  


Dan was stressed with all the work uni brought. There were frequent late nights spent studying, cramming, and writing, spent with Phil, groups of friends, or spent alone in the dark. Dan was still constantly worried, but he wasn’t keeping it all to himself anymore. He was getting even more used to this new lifestyle, and if anything the productivity was never more appealing to him.    
  


The future was beginning to become the present, and Dan was realizing that the future wasn’t so scary after all. Despite his previous worries, he knows that he can be happy here. He can tell from the little moments he finds every now and then, like early morning coffee with his best friend, or the feeling of satisfaction in your chest as you hand in an assignment you know you completed well. It’s finding a cool fact, the feeling after you clean your room, cooking a meal for yourself. It’s spending time with people who make you happy as you work towards a life you know you can reach.

“You nearly knocked it over then,” Phil muses excitedly, eyes alive with mirth as he watches Dan carefully slip a block out of the leaning tower they’d built in front of them. Dan and Phil are sat on the floor of Phil’s room, a stack of Jenga blocks towering way over their sitting forms. 

“But I didn’t,” Dan points out, setting the block effortlessly on top of the tower. Phil hastily moves to pick a block from the tower, clearly moving too fast, and Dan knows what’s gonna happen before Phil even touches the mound of blocks.

“Ohhh,” Dan begins, voice drawing out as Phil retrieves the block from the slot he’d picked. The tower begins to wobble, and Phil lets out a yelp of protest just as the blocks begin to crash down. A loud laugh erupts from Dan as Phil crumples to the floor, blocks raining down around him. He knows there might be complaints of loud noise from the rooms next door, but in the moment the thought escapes both of them. 

“ _ Phil. _ ” Dan laughs further, curling in on himself as Phil pouts in the pool of blocks he created.

Happiness comes in the little moments, like when you’re playing Jenga on your new best friend’s dorm room floor at four in the morning simply because you can, and because you both know that you need the laugh. 

Phil throws a block at Dan, clearly at least slightly spiteful despite a joking expression, and the brunette shies away, laughs only beginning to die down. 

“I think you rigged it,” Phil blames. 

Dan rolls his eyes as Phil begins to set the blocks back up again for another game, and Dan doesn’t think he’s ever smiled so wide. Happiness came for him in the little moments, and he was glad that he’d found them.   
  



End file.
